Regional Carriers across the U.S. Adapt Nortel's CS 1500 Solution

Nortel has reportedly signed up several new regional carriers across the U.S. to use its Communication Server (CS) 1500.


The company’s latest list includes Hancock Telephone, ArkWest Communications, Venture Communications Cooperative and Dakota Central Telecommunications.

Communication Server 1500 is a second-generation Nortel (News - Alert) Carrier VoIP softswitch that provides a powerful platform for IP communication services. It offers regional subscribers and small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) a low-cost but highly-reliable solution for providing traditional voice services, as well as multimedia applications like IPTV (News - Alert), fiber to the premises, and end-user Web portal access.

Samih Elhage, president, carrier VoIP and applications, Nortel said that, the CS 1500 is high performance VoIP in a small package, bringing the latest voice and multimedia applications to regional carriers at a price they can afford.

He added, “With our recently announced  release of the CS 1500, we've added new revenue generating applications like unified messaging, single number service, subscriber web portal and on-demand conferencing. These new applications help increase customer satisfaction and retention while providing regional operators with a VoIP platform that allows them to reap the maintenance and cost benefits of a converged network."

The CS 1500 also offers the full range of legacy network interfaces and regulatory features, including E-911 and CALEA, for operation in today’s network. Existing Nortel DMS-10 and DMS-100 customers along with DCO and EWSD customers will also benefit from easy migration and reuse of line equipment, says the company.

The CS 1500 sports a small size and simple design that helps in decreasing service provider's costs associated with installation and engineering as well. It is a complete solution that is housed in a single 19" equipment rack with smallest configuration that occupies approximately two feet of rack space.  A single equipment rack will accommodate a fully configured CS 1500 which can serve over 48,000 lines.

Nortel plans to showcase its solutions for regional service providers at the Rural Cellular Association's 17th Annual Convention & Exhibition  in Las Vegas.

Nortel clams to have shipped more than 100 million carrier IP voice and multimedia ports to more than 340 carriers globally. The company provides VoIP solutions to two thirds of IDC's (News - Alert) worldwide listing of top 20 carriers (by revenue). Since the original launch of the CS 1500 in June 2006, Nortel has shipped more than 180 CS 1500 switches to more than 135 customers globally.